Thornton Tomasetti Project in South Korea Earns ACEC New York Platinum Honor for Outstanding Design

Thornton Tomasetti, the international engineering firm, will be recognized by the American Council of Engineering Companies of New York (ACEC New York) with a 2013 Excellence in Engineering Award at the Council’s annual gala on April 6, 2013. Thornton Tomasetti’s work on South Korea’s mixed-use development We’ve the Zenith will be recognized with an ACEC-NY Platinum Award, the Council’s second highest honor.

Key Points

• Thornton Tomasetti provided structural design services to architect DeStefano + Partners for the 4.1-million-square-foot, mixed-use We’ve the Zenith development, which comprises three towers of 70, 75 and 80 stories with underground parking and retail. At 80 stories (301 meters), Tower A is the eighth tallest tower in the world and the second tallest building in South Korea.

• Exposure to typhoons has been the biggest engineering challenge in the project’s construction. The team needed to design the structures to withstand sustained winds of 90 miles per hour and gusts to 105 miles per hour. The towers present a smooth rounded face to the wind, making them more aerodynamic to reduce wind forces. The building’s wide stance, with an aspect ratio of nearly 1:7, also helps to improve stability and comfort for occupants. The efficient design of the core wall, which is butterfly-shaped in cross section, maximizes building stiffness while minimizing the amount of material needed.

• An ACEC New York hallmark for more than 40 years, the Engineering Excellence Awards gala – the “Academy Awards” of the consulting engineering industry – is held annually in the spring at the Waldorf-Astoria to honor member firms for design achievements of superior skill and ingenuity.

• ACEC New York’s Platinum Award is presented to 37 outstanding projects throughout the world in various categories. Judging is based on complexity, future value to the engineering profession, original or innovative application of new or existing technologies, and meeting or exceeding client needs.

About Thornton Tomasetti (www.ThorntonTomasetti.com)
Thornton Tomasetti provides engineering design, investigation and analysis services to clients worldwide on projects of every size and level of complexity. We fulfill the needs of our clients at every stage in the building life cycle through seven integrated practices in Structural Engineering, Façade Engineering, Forensics, Renewal, Construction Engineering, Property Loss Consulting and Sustainability. Founded in 1956, today Thornton Tomasetti is an 800-person organization of engineers, architects and other professionals collaborating from offices across the United States and in Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East.